Signal-lantern.



- F. D. SPEAR.

SIGNAL LANTERN. APPLICATION man m. 10. 1911.

1 ,274,098. Patented J ul'y 30, 1918..

UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

mmm 1). em, or new YORK, N. n, ASSIGINOR ToARMsPEAR mannriicrunme conrm, or New YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

' SIGNAL-LANTERN.

Specification oi-Letters Patent. J 30 1918-.

I. 7 Application fi1ed Febr1iary10,19 17. Serial No.j147,7es,

To all whom it mdyf co acem I.

Be it known thatI, FUIih IAN DQ S PEAR, a citizen of the United States of -America,'re'

siding at N -ewlYorkgN. Y., haveinventeda. new and useful; Signal-Lantern,

the following is a specification; 1.

My invention relate sto an improved .l'a'n tern construction which is particularly. us,e-; in] in connection with lanterns. that. are liable subjected to exposure, -high; winds, and jars, As illustration of one use of a lantern-whereinthe light islmaiii tained with the greatest difficulty, I ma refer to alantern suspended froma. rail-.

way crossing gate arm,wherein it is common practice 't01suspend the lantern fromthe arm nearv its free end. When such gates are swung down to shut ed the roadway limited in qsoope thereto. I j

V In the drawings; 7 V a Figure Lisa-side elevation of the com plete device ona -small scale; a a 1 5 Fig. 2 is-a'veltt fcal cross section on the plane of the line 22 of Fig. 3.

- Fi I 3-is across section; on the plane of the line 3 -7-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view' of the underside of the lantern. I V I Fig. 5 isa perspective view ofone of the details removed. 3 I a "It should'be understood that I have shown and shall describe'herein in detail only one preferred form of my invention, 7

1 represents the main bodyofthe. lamp. The side of the lamp is suitably trans arent. In this particular instance; I provi e four light-outlets covered by lenses 22. '3 represents the hood; of-the'lantern, and 4 represents alwell in the-bottom of the main body. Within the well is mounted the lamp font 5 which, is provided with a suitable burner 6' and wick raising and'loweri'ng device 7. 8 is a wall or partition mounted in the well 4 between the 'sid'e wall o fthefont' I 5 and the inside wall of said well 41' This wall is provi'd'edi'with removable cap or cover plate 9jwhich' hasa central passage v or "vent for the burner of suflicient size to permit the burner to pass theretlirough; I

preferably provide around this burner opening' a depending perforated annular wall 10;

onefuncti'on ofwhich may be to bear down the burner when the "cap "9 is in place to steady the burner and font andfh'old 'said parts in' 'their' operative position," 'Any suitable conesor" defiect'ors maybe provided in the upper partof the lamp, the particular construction being immaterial. In the parcone. 12 is a cone located just below the outlet cone and supported by a body flange 13 and spaced'therefrom' by studs 14 tofur; nish an air passage. The edge of thejcone 12 may overlap the flange l3. as showmto effect a baffle plate action. In the upper p'aI'tOf the lamp bodyabove the flange 13 I have shown a seriesof small'air' passages '15] In the lower partior-well' l' I have shown other small air; passages 16. 1 7 is a screen arranged between the wall 8 and the inner wall of the well ,4 above the ports .or passages 16, for the purpose of effecting a baflling action and to resist too" strong currents of "air fthroughpassages' 16.,- The main oXygensup ply for the flame is through thepass'age '15, or 16, or both That is to say, theflamp may have both ,setjs of air passages '15 and v16, or in some instancs'one or the other of said sets of openings may bejomittedi depending upon the particula'r service 'fer which the lamp, is designedandjit 'should therefore be understood. that V my: lmielltion does not relate to the particular means, for

burner 6 is an airchambeyg; 18%181are ports which lead intdthe-loweir part of this air chamber, and 19.19v are ports in the cap 9 which lead into the'upper part of said air chamben, j j a As shown in the drawings (see Figs. 3 and 4) the total area of the ports'19 which connect the interiorof thecushioning .chamber. with the flame chamber; is in excess of the total arealof the ports 18 whioh connect the interiorofthe cushi ni g ch ber with atmospherajthus the :total'volume of air containedwithin'the cushioningchamfurnishing the main. oxygen supply. "]It will be observed that v[around lithe font 5 and v 70 ticular form shown, how'evenllisan' outlet her furnishes a cushioning effect in the region of the flame in the event of any shock on the lantern, since the ports 18 ofler greater resistance to the passage of air into or out of the cushioning chamber than do the ports 19. Thus, it will be seen that the air around the font and base of the burner is not confined, but is merely restrained. This restraining of air around the base of the burner provides in this vicinity a flexible air cushion or buffer, and since there are suitable ports leading into said chamber it follows that any shock up or down on the main air supply within the lantern around the flame will be cushioned so that the flame will not be extinguished. By this improvement the lantern may be subjected to very severe blows and shocks both up and down without extinguishing the flame.

The lantern may be opened in any desired way. In this particular instance one of the lenses 2 is mounted in a hinged ring 20 so that the lantern may be opened at that side to afford access to the interior. To fill the font, the lantern body is opened in the aforesaid manner, the cap 9 is then removed and the font lifted out and withdrawn through the opening covered by the lens 2 mounted in hinged ring 20.

I have not described at length the various details of construction which this lantern is shown to contain in common to other lanterns, since my invention is not limited to such features but relates more particularly to the means which provides an elastic air cushion or bufler around and below the burner. This means may of course be modified in a variety of ways without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention and the following claims. The number, shape, location and size of the vents into the air cushioning chamber and the method of forming the same may of course be varied to suit different conditions, it being essential, however, that such a chamber shall have one or more vents leading to its lower part as well as to its upper part, and that the construc tion of such vents shall be proper to produce the desired cushioning effect.

What I claim is:

1. In a lantern, a body portion having an air admission port for normally supplying air to support combustion, an oil font and burner within said casing, a partition forming an air cushioning chamber around said burner and below the upper part thereof, a vent from said chamber to the interior of the lamp body and a vent from said chamber to the atmosphere, the latter vent being more restricted than the former,

2. In a lantern, a body having a flame chamber therein, said body having a port for normally supplying air to support combustion, a well adjacent to the bottom of said body having a removable cover, an oil font and a burner located in said well, said cover having a passage for said burner, said well and cover forming an air cushioning chamber around said burner, a vent from said air chamber into said flame chamber, and a vent from said air chamber to atmos phere, the latter vent being more restricted than the former.

3. In a. lantern, a lantern body having a flame chamber therein, and having an air admission port for normally supplying air to support combustion, an annular well at the bottom of said body, a removable cover for said well, said well and cover and the bottom of said lamp body forming an air cushioning chamber, an oil font having a burner mounted in said air chamber, said cover having a passage for said burner, one or more perforations in said cover to put vsaid air chamber into communication with said flame chamber and one or more perforations in the bottom of the lamp within said annular wall to put said chamber into communication with atmosphere, the latter vent being more restricted than the former.

4L. In a lantern, a lantern body having a flame chamber therein, and having an air admission port for normally supplying air to support combustion, an annular wall in the bottom of said body, a removable cover for said wall, said wall and cover and the bottom of said lamp body forming an air cushioning chamber, an oil font having a burner mounted in said air chamber, said cover having a passage for said burner, one or more perforations in said cover to put said air chamber into communication with said flame chamber and one or more perforations in the bottom of the lamp within said annular wall to put said chamber into communication with atmosphere, the latter perforations being more restricted than the former, with means between said cover and said font and burner whereby said cover when in position will operate to hold said font and burner in position.

5. In a lantern, a body'portion having an air admission port for normally supplying air to support combustion, a partltion forming an air cushioning chamber in the lower part of said body portion, an oil font within said chamber, a burner carried by said font, a burner passage and a vent in the upper part of said partition leading into the space within the lamp body, and a vent from said chamber to the atmosphere, the area of the first mentioned vent being greater than the area of the last mentionedvent.

6. In a lantern, a lantern body, an oil font therein, a burner carried thereby, a partition around saidfont forming an air cushioning chamber with air communicating passages leading from said chamber into the interior of the lamp and also to atmosphere,

said passages being constructed to afford freer communication between said cushioning chamber and the interior of the lamp than between said cushioning chamber and the atmosphere.

7. In a lantern, a lantern body, an oil font therein, a burner carried thereby, a partition around said font forming an air cushioning chamber with air communicating passages leading from said chamber into the interior of the lamp and also to atmosphere, said passages being constructed to afi'ord freer communication between said cushioning chamber and the interior of the lamp than between said cushioning chamber and the atmosphere, with air ports in the wall of the lamp body outside of the cushioning chamber for supplying air to support combustion independently of the first mentioned perforations.

8. In a lantern, a body having a flame chamber therein, said body having a port for'normally supplying air to support oombustion, a welladjaoent to the bottom of said body having a cover, an oil font and a burner located in said well, said cover having a passage for said burner, said well and cover forming an air chamber around said burner, a vent from said air chamber into said flame chamber, and a Vent from'sa-id air chamber to atmosphere, the first mentioned vent being freer than the other.

FURMAN D. SPEAR.

Copies of this patent my be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner 0! l'atentl,

Washington, 0. G. 

